


Not Exactly Christmas

by astudyinfic



Series: Holidays 2020 [24]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: M/M, Not Beta Read, Q at work, Q-Branch - Freeform, Slice of life - spy style
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:28:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28343166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astudyinfic/pseuds/astudyinfic
Summary: Q-Branch technicians have the agents test out the new things they design.  Whichever agent happens to be around.  Except for Bond.So Q makes sure Bond gets in on the action as well.
Relationships: James Bond/Q
Series: Holidays 2020 [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036116
Comments: 2
Kudos: 71





	Not Exactly Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> **Day 24: Toy**
> 
> Prompts can be found [here](https://astudyinfic.tumblr.com/post/635866337200259072/decided-it-was-time-for-a-new-holiday-prompt-list).

“What do you think about this?”, one of the technicians asked him, holding out the latest device the woman had been working on. Q approved the plans weeks ago, but she had outdone herself, and he knew it would be a hit among the double oh agents. The rest of the field agents would be jealous but it was too deadly to leave to them. 

Still, Q picked it up and looked it over, checking for any flaws he could see right away. There weren’t any noticeable and he nodded. “Looks good. See if any of the double ohs are in the building and if they are interested in testing a new toy. I’d like to see what they do with it before we approve it for any missions.”

The technician nodded and hurried away. Q guessed Eight or Three might get to test that sometime today. If he remembered right, both of them were in London right now. 

They weren’t the only ones. Seven was around too. But almost everyone in Q-Branch found him intimidating so Q doubted he would be the one his tech called. Which was a shame. If anyone was going to find an unconventional way to destroy a piece of technology, it would be James Bond. 

Two hours later, another technician was showing him the plans for a new feature on the next cars the Branch would put out. Q could imagine at least a half dozen scenarios where this would come in handy, which meant the agents would find at least three dozen new ways to use it. 

That was the thing about Q-Branch. They came up with the innovations but somehow, the agents were the ones who made them...innovated. “I think Lewis just got back from Madrid,” he told the tech. “If you can get a prototype put together, ask him to look it over and see what he thinks.” Until it went into a car, the double ohs wouldn’t care much. Field agents were generally thrilled to be asked to try any tech, even if it was still in the design phase. Lewis, in particular, considered himself a bit of a genius and would probably give them a thorough report. 

Two-thirds of it would be useless, but the other third normally made up for it.

Q would never admit that half of the things they worked on in Q-Branch were because of James Bond. Their first meeting stuck with him, even all these years later when he could recognize that James was just being James and Q was being overly dismissive to counter it. But the comment of “It’s not exactly Christmas,” got Q thinking about all the toys he COULD design if they were going to go in for that sort of thing these days. 

And so he started to work on different inventions, ones that would be useful, yes, but would also appeal to Bond’s (and the other double-ohs) sense of drama. Q doubted they would have got very far with their jobs if they didn’t like to be a bit dramatic now and then. 

But while these were all being designed because of something James said a long time ago, the technicians rarely asked him to test things. Partly because they all knew he would destroy the prototype and partly because he scared them. 

At first, James was hurt not to be asked. He never said anything specifically but Q had learned to read the signs well enough. While he couldn’t force the technicians not to be scared of him anymore, Q could work around it. 

After hours, when he had something that would appeal to Bond, Q would stick around and wait for the agent to find him. It was easier to go home together now that they were living together, so James generally waited until Q was ready to go. Sometimes he got antsy and showed up to find Q still working away in a darkened department. 

If James recognized that those were the nights that Q let him test the inventions, he never let on. Other than a slightly brighter than usual unholy gleam in his eyes. 

Okay, maybe he had figured it out. 

That night was one of those nights. Q had just the thing that he had been working on personally and it seemed wrong to let anyone else try it out. It was a project that was inspired by and destined for none other than 007. 

“Q?” James called, his deep voice echoing across the room. He could see Q just fine, the room wasn’t that big after all and Q had the light at his workstation on. But he announced his presence like that every time. As if Q hadn’t seen him coming on several different CCTV feeds long before he reached Q-Branch. 

He turned and looked at James, once more struck with just how handsome the man was. His suit fit perfectly and Q wondered if Bond’s tailor could make something that made him look broad like that. Probably not. There was nothing broad about him. “Over here. I have something I would like you to look at before we leave,” he said. 

“I heard both Nine and that Lewis got to test things today.” The sentiment implied in those words hung in Q’s ears. Bond wanted to know why he wasn't asked but wasn’t about to ask himself. And Q wasn’t going to offer the information. If he knew the techs were afraid of him, he might go out of his way to be polite to them, which would scare them more, or would go out of his way to be more terrifying which might kill them on the spot. Q rather liked the people who worked under him and didn’t want Bond upsetting them too much. 

“Yes, well, if we don’t give Lewis something to do, he starts complaining, and then Tanner is down here and it is a hassle.” Which was true. Why they didn’t do something about that agent, Q didn’t know, but that was why he worked here with technology and technicians, and Tanner, M, and Moneypenny dealt with personnel. 

Q didn’t think he was very good with people most of the time. 

“And the thing Nine was testing is for her mission this week. Nothing personal.” Q knew Bond wasn’t that upset, despite how he sounded. He was here to do a job, not make friends, he repeated time and time again. But Q knew that he had more friends here than he thought. “This toy, however, is for you,” Q said, sliding the box across his desk. “Want to test it out before we go home?”

There was very little that James liked more than going home with Q at the end of the day and Q knew it. 

But seeing the innocent looking pen in the box, James’s eyes lit up like it was Christmas and Q knew they wouldn’t be going home any time soon. 

That was okay with him. 


End file.
